Help Us Escape Mold-Infested Home

I'm not a person to bring my business to social media or to make my personal life public… It's taken a lot for me to come here for help. Please read and understand our urgent need for help. Thank you for being patient and coming this far to understand and support.

When we first signed for our rental in late January 2024, we had a few requests after doing our house tour with our agent (not the owner). Like replacing all the carpet that was over 10 years old and was musty with an unbearable smell of urine. Remove wall mount and paint, also replace the seal at the bottom of the door of the shower, causing water to leak onto the tile floor and was a safety hazard for me since I was about to have a full knee replacement. We also had her “cleaner” come back and do a thorough cleaning because under the stove and fridge was years' worth of grime, rotten dried-up moldy food, and who knows what. My SO steam cleaned every wall, flooring, and cabinet just to get the musty smell out of the home. (Us thinking it was just what was left from the carpet change) it wasn’t.

On signing day with the owner, we did a walkthrough with her and her husband. We pointed it out and asked for it to be replaced once again. She said her husband would replace it… it still isn’t fixed 10 months later with multiple repair requests. My SO soon noticed the paint chipping away (slumlord special) at the baseboard by the shower and clear signs of prolonged rot. In mid-July 2024, I started noticing a rash on my arms. Not really thinking anything of it, I rubbed some cortisone on it and left it alone. Come mid-August, it's getting worse, not able to sleep. I had to go to my doctor, she referred me to a dermatologist. They ran skin tests and couldn’t figure out what it was. They prescribed medicated cream that I’m still using today with no results and more rash on my legs and stomach. Fast forward to mid-October, we discover another leak that was supposed to be fixed under the kitchen sink months prior (by her handyman and not a plumber) is getting worse. After removing things from under the sink, we notice the drain pipe from the disposal was being held up by duct tape and mold all over. We reported it and like always, she wanted to take her time and not actually get anybody out to check on it. It wasn’t until we notified her that we both were very sick with the mold. At this point, we knew what was making us sick was mold. And we needed to get it fixed for our health. So we told her that we were not paying the rent for the month until the things that we have told her to be fixed for months or since we moved in, have not been fixed and have caused mold growth within the home. She knew that she was legally in a bind and needed to get somebody to come out, hoping that we were wrong and were not just wanting to avoid paying our rent and being those types of tenants. (We paid our rent every month until this month.) We did come back positive with an unhealthy level of mold within the master bathroom and kitchen area and also the guest bedroom. My SO normally never gets sick; she has had bronchitis twice since living in this home. She had to go to the ER in the last month with respiratory issues. She came back with a diagnosis of mold exposure. This happened while we were fighting to get the mold test done. And she has to use a breathing treatment and inhalers.

The landlord issued us a three-day letter to vacate on Friday, November 8th. The third day was on Monday the 10th. The mold “test” was to be done the next day on the 11th. We thought at that time we were actually getting some answers and what she was doing was wrong, which it is still wrong. But the person she hired to do the mold test didn’t do a test but a dampness test on the boards under the sink and by the shower. We continued to push for the next couple of days and argue and fight with her until there was an air test done. The air test came back this past Monday, November 18th. We tried to pay rent after we spoke to a lawyer. She denied it. We got served with an eviction notice today, November 20th, 2024. We have paid every month since we lived here until this last month when the health of both of us living here declined due to the mold. We have spoken to three different lawyers and everyone has let us know that it is in retaliation for pushing her to fix the issues at hand. Especially since she has a bachelor's in nursing. They are trying to cover themselves. It's the week before Thanksgiving, a month before Christmas, they don’t care that they could have killed us in their toxic house.

We just wanted the last four months of rent since it was when the skin problems and respiratory issues really started. Our deposit and our pet deposit back. Since we both had to take off work due to illness, my SO is an executive sous chef and cannot take that time off. We are both still battling respiratory issues and skin rashes. They just want to replace the boards and not actually have mold removal professionally done. We do not have the money to go after her in court right now and she knows this.

We are fighting for our health and safety. We are praying that you are able to help us fight and get out of here. Our first goal is just to get somewhere safe and then go after her and her nursing license because she should never be allowed to have rental properties where the tenants' health and safety are put in danger and they don’t care except for profits.